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Appl Environ Microbiol. 1970 June; 19(6): 898-901
Copyright © 1970 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Automated Fluorescent Treponemal Antibody Test: Instrument and Evaluation

Venereal Disease Research Laboratory, National Communicable Disease Center, Atlanta, Georgia 30333

ABSTRACT

Two evaluations of the automated fluorescent treponemal antibody (AFTA) test for the serodiagnosis of syphilis are described. The results of AFTA and manually performed fluorescent treponemal antibody-absorption (FTA-ABS) tests were compared on serum samples from clinically defined donor groups, and the reproducibility of each procedure was studied. Significant improvement of AFTA test results was obtained in the most recent study after developmental modifications of the instrument and test technique. AFTA test agreement with both syphilis and nonsyphilis categories was considered good. With the increasing usage of the FTA-ABS test as an effective tool for the diagnosis of syphilis, successful automation of this procedure is particularly timely and significant.